Interplay of Polarization and Time-Reversal Symmetry Breaking in Synchronously Pumped Ring Resonators

TL;DR

This paper explores the simultaneous occurrence and interaction of polarization and temporal symmetry breaking in synchronously pumped optical ring resonators, revealing complex dynamics with potential applications in photonics technologies.

Contribution

It is the first to analyze the combined effects of polarization and temporal symmetry breaking in optical ring resonators through numerical simulations.

Findings

Identified parameter regimes for independent symmetry breaking

Discovered regimes with dynamical interplay of symmetry breaking

Enhanced understanding of nonlinear dynamics in optical resonators

Abstract

Optically induced breaking of symmetries plays an important role in nonlinear photonics, with applications ranging from optical switching in integrated photonic circuits to soliton generation in ring lasers. In this work we study for the first time the interplay of two types of spontaneous symmetry breaking that can occur simultaneously in optical ring resonators. Specifically we investigate a ring resonator (e.g. a fiber loop resonator or whispering gallery microresonator) that is synchronously pumped with short pulses of light. In this system we numerically study the interplay and transition between regimes of temporal symmetry breaking (in which pulses in the resonator either run ahead or behind the seed pulses) and polarization symmetry breaking (in which the resonator spontaneously generates elliptically polarized light out of linearly polarized seed pulses). We find ranges of pump parameters for which each symmetry breaking can be independently observed, but also a regime in which a dynamical interplay takes place. Besides the fundamentally interesting physics of the interplay of different types of symmetry breaking, our work contributes to a better understanding of the nonlinear dynamics of optical ring cavities which are of interest for future applications including all-optical logic gates, synchronously pumped optical frequency comb generation, and resonator-based sensor technologies.